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Yes, that's what I was wondering. Good to know. Thanks.
A few counties in Georgia exempt seniors from the portion of the property tax which goes to schools, which is a major reduction. The age in the county where I used to live is 62. A lot of younger people complain that seniors move to the county just to get the tax break and the schools suffer as a result.
There may not be a requirement to have insurance, but what do you plan on doing if your house burns down?
My house was a steel-building kit [originally marketed as an airplane hanger] 'burning down' would be extremely difficult.
If my house were to be destroyed, I would get another house. I bought this one with cash, if I had to I would do it again.
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... And just out of curiosity, what are the monthly cost of utilities (heat/electric) for your home?
Our home has solar-power. Our annual expenses to maintain the system, seem to be roughly $100/year.
We heat with wood for $800/year. Though I have a Solar-Thermal system that is about 95% constructed, once it is running it should reduce our wood consumption down to less than $100/year.
Here in our neck of the woods plenty of seniors on just SS alone or whatever reduced financial circumstances can be seen nightly going through rubbish bags left out for collection.
Supermarkets, food stores, bakeries, delis, store 24's, restaurant and other dumpsters, you name it and there they are. They also go through domestic and other garbage looking for recyclables (cans, bottles, etc... anything of value) they can redeem or sell for funds.
Evenings and nights many streets in this city look like something out of a Dickens novel; people with "granny carts" or just shopping bags going through bin liners pulling out various foods or whatever.
Something else have said before; many simply do not realize just how bad things are for some seniors out there, and things are likely to get far worse.
Many for various reasons do have nothing else but SS and perhaps a small pension (if that) to rely upon. Meanwhile costs of living continue to rise. After Medicare/health, rent/housing, and other necessities are taken care of a good number literally have next to nothing to live upon each month until their next check.
you just need the kind of career that starts you out in the upper brackets . most of us ramp up over decades of time so for us it would be hard to max it for 35 years .
but for professionals it can be no problem . right out of law school when they hired my son he was maxing the limit 10 years ago . pop on over to the white coat investor forum on facebook . the incomes early on many have are pretty high day 1
I think it depends on the job also. I wasn't very long term focused in my younger years. Now that I "see the light," I'm very focused on the numbers. No, I won't have 35 years at full max. However, I still should qualify for the max or end up being extremely close. But in the end, it won't matter. My FRA is 67 and most likely, I'll retire at 65. Because I have so many years to go, by the time I do claim, I'll probably get at least $3k a month as a single.
Here in our neck of the woods plenty of seniors on just SS alone or whatever reduced financial circumstances can be seen nightly going through rubbish bags left out for collection.
Supermarkets, food stores, bakeries, delis, store 24's, restaurant and other dumpsters, you name it and there they are. They also go through domestic and other garbage looking for recyclables (cans, bottles, etc... anything of value) they can redeem or sell for funds.
Evenings and nights many streets in this city look like something out of a Dickens novel; people with "granny carts" or just shopping bags going through bin liners pulling out various foods or whatever.
Something else have said before; many simply do not realize just how bad things are for some seniors out there, and things are likely to get far worse.
Many for various reasons do have nothing else but SS and perhaps a small pension (if that) to rely upon. Meanwhile costs of living continue to rise. After Medicare/health, rent/housing, and other necessities are taken care of a good number literally have next to nothing to live upon each month until their next check.
It's very true for me. I get now about $716/month. I am blessed in that I now have Section 8, so my rent is 32% of my income, so around $223/month. So far, they haven't raised the rent since the new monthly amount of rent was started.
As far as how to make ends meet? One of the things that really helps me is that my local electricy provider, PG&E, has a low income discount of around 30%. Plus, there is a federally funded (so far) program called CARE, which gives me a deposit toward my account every year, up to a certain amount - usually around $350/year.
I can also go get free food twice a month, depending on my ability to get there via public transporation, and do I have a cart I can haul all that stuff on the bus with, etc., etc.
Point being, just that people with low income options can still benefit from an apartment building. Just being in proximity of a safe area really helps.
Gee Snow, I didn't know that you were having to use public transportation now. I thought you had a little car to get around in. Wish I had known. I just gave away a dandy car that belonged to my late father-in-law. I would have been more than happy to have given it to you. Father-in-law was a heavy machinery mechanic and he kept that car in great condition.
I do not have homeowner insurance since I have no mortgage there is no 'requirement' to have insurance.
I know a guy who decided not to carry home owner's insurance because he paid off the mortgage so there was no requirement as he told everyone. While away visiting relatives, his home burned to the ground. It was a total loss. So now he had a vacant lot, lost everything he owned and no place to live. Home owner's insurance isn't expensive, and it is foolish not to carry it. It is the largest asset you have and to not protect it is unwise.
That's exactly the case where I live. Most places are NOT zoned for multi-family housing and so those that do exist are expensive.
I just did a comparison of the total yearly cost based on my 2018 expenses and this is how it came out:
Home Ownership (property taxes, homeowners insurance, electricity, water, oil heat, lawn cutting service, alarm system monitoring) $17,300 which is a bit less than $1450/month. For this I have about 1500 sq ft of living space, 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, in which I have 100% equity and could take a reverse mortgage out on IF a time came when I needed to do that.
Apartment rentals (rent plus only water) of almost the same size (1300-1500 sq ft, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths) range from $2500 to $3500/month and include only water. I'd still have to pay for electricity and heat which would be at least another $2000/year because my usage would not be any different than in my house. So taking that estimate plus a midrange rent of $3000/month = $38K/year which is more than double the cost of my current home ownership on a normal-expenses basis. And I would have no equity, no privacy, and no garden.
I would need to spend more than $20,000 each year on home repairs and upgrades to make renting an equivalent apartment space more cost-effective than owning my house. And I would not want anything smaller.
ETA: In my area, for my $1450/month home expenses you'd be lucky to find a one-bedroom apartment in the basement of somebody's house. And electricity and heat would still not be included.
We can all move out of your houses to places that look like we are spending less, but that isn't always the case as you have demonstrated.
Many people get into this crazy mode of "We need to downsize!" when all many of them are doing is reducing the square footage they live in, but end up not reducing the costs. It is very cheap and easy to meet with an accountant and have them put together a plan for expenses based on asking you questions. All of this can be worked out on paper ahead of time, and an experienced accountant has seen it all, so they will ask questions most likely never thought of. I'm not talking about someone who sells you investments, an accountant to consult on expenses, taxes and managing money. It is going to be different for everyone.
We can all move out of your houses to places that look like we are spending less, but that isn't always the case as you have demonstrated.
Many people get into this crazy mode of "We need to downsize!" when all many of them are doing is reducing the square footage they live in, but end up not reducing the costs.
Downsizing also has major front-end costs. DH and I did this in 2015 and, although I'm good with numbers and have been through moves before, there were a lot of "surprises" in addition to the expected costs such as realtor fees, the moving company, etc. Most of them involved work we had done on the new house- enclosing the porch cost way more than expected (we used the same company we'd had with the old place but I guess I didn't allow enough for inflation), same for replacement windows (we knew they needed it before making an offer), the heating system needed to be replaced the first winter and the A/C in the spring. The HVAC system was 20 years old but we'd hoped it would give us a few more years.
I'd still do it again- the old house was a cookie-cutter McMansion with a pool and I suspect at some point there will be a glut of them on the market as baby boomers seek something smaller. This one is probably the nicest house I've ever lived in. Ongoing costs- mortgage, property taxes and utilities- are definitely lower and it's easier for me to maintain by myself. The old place had 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths and 2 half-baths over 3 floors!
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